Free Republic

Top News Story Iran Focus A powerful Iranian cleric told Tehran’s Friday prayers worshippers the Islamic Republic was unwavering in its nuclear venture and unafraid of international sanctions. “We mustn’t be afraid of sanctions. Even though there is a loss, it also has benefits. We should not fear the losses”, Guardian Council chief Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said. “If we have made any headway these days, it is because of these sanctions against us. Otherwise, we would be like these Arab countries, who have to import everything”, Jannati said. “If we fear sanctions then we will have to accept submission”,...

Top News Story Rooz Online Is Iran about to make concessions on human rights? Arash Motamed The judiciary directive to release imprisoned student activists, which was initially requested by the "Association for the Defense of the Rights of Prisoners" that specifically called for the release of 34 prisoners, and the judiciary’s recent emphasis on the necessity of having juries for political trials are new initiatives from the ultra-conservatives now in the driving seat in Tehran that signal more than just simple administrative changes. In less than three months since it has come to power, the administration of president Ahmadinejad,...

Top News Story Blair links Iraq bombings to row over Iran's nuclear program Ewen MacAskill, Brian WhitakerFriday October 7, 2005The Guardian Tony Blair warned yesterday he will not be diverted from the debate over Iran's nuclear programme by Tehran's suspected involvement in a series of deadly bomb attacks on British soldiers this year. Speaking at Downing Street 24 hours after a British official pointed a finger of blame at Tehran, Mr Blair said: "There are certain pieces of information that lead us back to Iran."Such attacks would not prevent Britain continuing to press for Iran to abandon its alleged...

Top News Story UK accuses Iran over killings of soldiers Ewen MacAskill and Simon Tisdall and Richard Norton-TaylorThursday October 6, 2005The Guardian Britain and Iran clashed openly last night after a senior British official directly accused Tehran of supplying Iraqi insurgents with sophisticated roadside bombs that have killed eight British soldiers and two security guards since May. The bombs, triggered when an infra-red beam is touched, have created havoc among British forces in southern Iraq. They release a projectile capable of penetrating armoured vehicles, against which the British army has virtually no defence.The British official said that Iranian interference...

Top News Story The Washington Times Army takes control of Iran nukes An Excerpt:David R. Sands, The Washington Times:Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has placed the military firmly in control of his nation's nuclear program, undercutting his government's claim that the program is intended for civilian use, according to a leading opposition group. READ MORE A Daily Briefing of Major News Stories on Iran: Dan Darling, The Weekly Standard takes a close look at Iranian Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani and the Qods (Jerusalem) Force unit under his command and his efforts in Iraq. A must read.Iran Press News reported...

Top News Story Rooz Online The "Supreme Leader" turning to Rafsanjani for help with Ahmadinejad? Rooz Online: a pro-reformist website Sharg newspaper carried this headline: “The Expediency Council is responsible for supervising the implementation of the grand policies of the three branches of government.” This is the product of an interview Sharg reporter Akbar Montakhabi had with Mohsen Rezai from the Expediency Council. The relegation of some of the authority of the Leader to the Expediency Council has been the subject of recent talks as a solution to end the current crises and impasse in the political sphere. This...

Top News Story Iranian.ws End of Islam in Iran Near? Iranian.ws: POLL - As an Iranian, If(or when) time comes to choose between 'Islam or Iran', which one will you support? Grandson of the founder of mullacracy in Iran, Seyyed Hassan Khomeini, criticized the battle between secularism and backwardness, saying the original religious movement in Iran has been endangered. He added that secularism is pursuing separation of religion from politics and some are promoting an emotional religion based on backwardness and superstitions to withstand secularism. Mullah Hassan further said both these movements would end in the separation of religion...

Top News Story Haaretz On January 20, 2005, George W. Bush outlined the goal of his second term. "It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world," he said. "All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you." Less than a year later, the Bush doctrine is dead, the victim not...

Top News Story Rooz Online Questioning the Lack of Open Debate on Iran's Nuclear Program Ahmad Zeidabadi The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on calling Iran’s nuclear issue the “national case”. I do not understand this insistence or why is the issue a ”national” one. If those who call the issue a national one mean that its outcome will determine the destiny of the Iranian nation, which it will, what is the importance and value of this interpretation of the word “national” for its insistence? The fluctuation of the price of oil in international markets too...

Top News Story ARE ARABS ANTI-AMERICAN? An Excerpt: By AMIR TAHERI PRESIDENT Bush's "image queen," Karen Hughes, is on a tour of Arab countries, where conventional wisdom claims that anti-Americanism is second nature. Hughes, now in charge of public diplomacy at the State Department, plainly she shares that analysis — why else choose the Arab region for her maiden voyage? But how true is that claim? Are Arabs the most anti-American people on earth? READ MORE A Daily Briefing of Major News Stories on Iran: Iran Press News reported that Hadad Adel, the Director of the Parliament of the...

The United States and its allies must act to stop Iran's nuclear programs -- by force if necessary -- because conventional diplomacy will not work, three senior Israeli lawmakers from across the political spectrum warned yesterday. As a last resort, they said, Israel itself would act unilaterally to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear arms. Iran will not be deterred "by anything short of a threat of force," said Arieh Eldad, a member of Israel's right-wing National Union Party, part of a delegation of Knesset members visiting Washington this week. "They won't be stopped unless they are convinced their programs will...

Top News Story FLIGHT OF CAPITAL IS A WAKE-UP CALL FOR IRAN TO CHANGE ITS POLICIESby Amir TaheriGulf NewsSeptember 28, 2005 Here is a quiz. You have a country whose foreign exchange reserves are at the highest levels in two decades, with prospects of rising prices for its principal export while over $200 million (Dh734 million) pours into its coffers each day.Moreover, the nation's budget deficit, a persistent though occulted feature for the past eight years, has turned into a surplus, freeing the hands of the government to throw money at its more pressing problems. The logical consequence of...

Top News Story Russia in a Hurry to Sell Weapons to Iran — Paper Russia is intensifying efforts to sell weapons to Iran while such sales remain legal amid mounting pressure on the Islamic state over its controversial nuclear program, the daily Kommersant said on Monday. Moscow “has stepped up military-technological cooperation with Tehran,” the business daily said, citing an unidentified source. It said top officials within Russia’s military-industrial complex decided to concentrate on arms sales to Tehran for two reasons. “Firstly, as many weapons as possible must be sold to Iran before an international embargo against this country comes...

Top News Story Iran threatens to cut trade with nuclear critics By Parisa Hafezi TEHRAN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Iran threatened on Tuesday to use trade to punish countries that have voted to report it to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions, after Tehran failed to convince the world its nuclear programme was peaceful. Iranian officials said they were shocked by India's backing on Saturday for a resolution passed by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog body, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). But they reassured India, which is hoping to sate its voracious appetite for energy through deals with...

Top News Story Iran threatens to halt nuclear checks as it is declared 'non-compliant'By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor(Filed: 26/09/2005) Iran yesterday threatened to halt spot inspections of its nuclear sites in retaliation for a harshly worded resolution that brought Teheran a step closer to being reported to the United Nations Security Council for possible sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the weekend declared Iran to be in "non-compliance" with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty because of a catalogue of violations that has stoked strong suspicions that Iran is seeking to build an atomic bomb.   Defiant: Iran's...

Top News Story More than 4000 of the Iranian National Guard, Al Quds Corps and the Intelligence Ministry are in Iraq • During the past three years, Iran has been the major player in Iraq for several reasons. Everyone is speaking about the Iranian interference in Iraq and the spread of Iranian intelligence agents and the Guard elements intensively in the south, symbolically in the north and secretly in Baghdad. A) According to some documents, in addition to the statements of colonel Ismael, a leader of Al Quds Corps, who fled from Iran and Al Sharq Al Awsat has...

Top News Story Iran to Launch Spy Satellite By the End of September By the end of September a Russian Cosmos 3 missile will be launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome 800 km north of Moscow, carrying two Iranian satellites into orbit. Although the satellites are claimed to be for meteorological and experimental purposes, experts believe that one of them will possess surveillance capabilities allowing it to observe American and Israeli military facilities throughout the Middle East. More importantly, experts believe that the Iranian space program serves as a cover for developing more advanced long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear...

Top News Story EU military attaches walked out in protest at a parade in Tehran Thursday after ballistic missiles were rolled past carrying vitriolic anti-US and Israeli slogans, diplomats told AFP. "There was a common position among the European Union members that, if the military parade included any slogans that attacked our allies, we would leave," said a diplomat."The military attaches from the embassies of France, Italy, Greece and Poland were present at the parade, and when they saw the slogans they promptly left," said another diplomat.At the parade, Iran showed off six of its Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missiles...

Top News Story Rooz Online Iran Taken on a War Path Arash Motamed With the performance of Iran’s UN delegation in New York, Iranian political circles inside and outside the country now have more reason for concern. Ahmadinejad spoke of combat at the UN and shut the door to “politics” while Larijani has appointed hardliners as negotiators over the nuclear issue. Both issues are interpreted in Iranian political analysts to mean one thing: Ahmadinejad and Larijani are taking the country towards war. Observers note that concerns over the policies of the Mesbah Yazdi – Ahmadinejad – Larijani team were...

Top News Story Refer at own peril, says Iran Iran warned the West on Tuesday it would start uranium enrichment and review its membership of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if sent to the UN Security Council. Larijani also said the world’s fourth biggest oil producer would link its stance on foreign countries’ access to its energy resources to whether they stood with Iran on its nuclear plans. ‘‘Some countries have extensive economic relations with Iran, especially in the oil sector, but feel no responsibility to defend the rights of an oppressed nation. The Supreme National Security Council is determined...